It also shows how bad an implementation it is when it requires that many changes. That's like saying Microsoft has such good quality software and security because they have so many fixes for it. The fact is good software doesn't need that many fixes.

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PunkBuster runs extremely smooth on all the games it currently supports.

Again that may be YOUR experience on YOUR PC. It is not mine.

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If you read in all the communities where it gets implemented, it gets praises for stopping cheaters

Fanatics who despise cheating to the level that they do are ready to embrace anything which they think will stop it regardless of the drawbacks. I don't let the opinions of irrational teenagers determine whether something is a good idea.

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In fact, a lot of the players of those communities were ready to quit their games until PB became a part of them.

No, they wouldn't quit because it is that blind fanaticism to the game that is why they complain so vociferously about cheating to start with. They'd continue to complain, but they would not quit playing.

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There are not just a few cheats in games, there are tons

Again that is pure speculation. The definition of cheating varies widely. Just because Punkbuster considers something as cheating does not make it actually so. And, just because Punkbuster happens to flag a user as cheating does not mean that he actually was.

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it doesn't take up hardly much extra CPU or bandwidth anymore

Sure it does! As a matter of fact, the more types of cheating it tries to monitor, the more intensive it becomes. It's like virus protection. The database always grows NOT shrinks and therefore scans take longer to download and run.

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this is why the majority of game servers that have PunkBuster as an option, use it.

The reason servers use it is because it offers a GUID ban. That could be offered WITHOUT the client-side crap.

And how many of these banned GUID's actually belong to players who did not cheat? The fact is you do not know because it is a subjective ruling.

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In fact, if you go to www.punksbusted.com .. they share GUID's to ban cheaters on a more global level

Which makes it even worse because you are trusting someone else's judgement to deny someone access to your server. Blacklisting like this has no place in civilized society including in online gaming.

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That kinda shows you that there far more cheats than you can imagine going on in games where there is no anti-cheat software.

What it really shows is that rashly discriminatory attitudes and tactics are rampant in online gaming. Trying to oreventing someone from ever playing a game online (which if you got your way would happen) for which they paid good money is unjust even if that person did engage in cheating on occasion. Playing games over the net is already an unfair and rigged contest due to differences in PC and Internet speed regardless of cheating. Having a global blacklist based on someone's arbitrary and subjective decision without a proper judicial system is grossly unfair. Also, the punishment must fit the crime even if such a judicial system existed.

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the post counts and messages for BHD are far lower than other games like Enemy Territory

LOL! That is simply because Enemy Territory is free.

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The lack of ASE and GS support really hurt the potential for growth of Novalogic games.

No it doesn't. Sales always dictate all, and the overwhelming majority of people don't buy a game based upon whether it supports GameSpy or ASE. They buy it based on the game itself. There are also plenty of people who hate GameSpy and ASE. External server browser support will never make or break a game.

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It makes it a pain to find and search for servers, buddies, etc.

Novalogic servers are easy to find on their website or in the game. A buddy list could be built into the game, but you can still see player's names in the list inside and outside of the game.